Use this free interactive mapping site to make additions to Google Maps, incorporating other data and maps with them. Add topographic maps and spatial or environmental data. This is an easy tool for adding symbols and icons or for adding a drawing on a Google map. Find many of the simple tools along the top of the map. You can do something as simple as adding text labels or shading a region. Add data to the map using the tools below the map. Create a mashup of KML, GPX (easily imported from Garmin), WMS and GEORSS data sources. This video explains many of the features of Geokov. Please note this video is hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then it may not be viewable. You could always view the video at home and bring it to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the video from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Take a virtual field trip through the map maker. Explore landforms and other terrain features from Google Earth and topographic maps. Easily create maps for field trips, presentations, classroom activities and more. Create a shade relief topographic map of any region. Doing an environmental study of an area or region? Find the region in this tool first and add the necessary information for classroom discussion or presentation. Use one of the many TeachersFirst Presentation Tools to present information learned. Tie information from literature, stories, history, and other sources to add value and interest to the maps.

Put any story on the map using Tour Builder (by Google). A Gallery shares examples. You would be wise to preview the Gallery before sharing since these are created by the general public. To create a tour, choose locations, add text, images, and videos to create a story to share with the world. Add up to 25 items to each pinned location. Options include three different types of storylines. You can decide how others view your story/tour and how your story will progress. Linear tales move the story along a line. The hub option tells the story from a central location. You can disable lines completely so stories are not tied to a specific sequence or timeline. Finished stories default to private view. You may share privately with friends and family or make public for anyone to view. The Google Earth plugin and a Google account are required to use Tour Builder. Some of the introduction/explanation videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Create a simple tour to share (or find one in the gallery). Share the tour on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Create tours of events from history, famous battles, scientific discoveries, biographies, and much more. The possibilities are endless. Create a timeline of famous people or a hub of locations related to a topic such as toxic waste sites or habitats for a certain animal. Tour settings for Shakespeare plays or an author's life. Tour Van Gogh's painting sites or map landforms such as glaciers. Have students who have Google accounts build a Tour of important events in their lives (or use a teacher-controlled account). In world language classes, create cultural tours in your new language. Scroll through the gallery for ideas on how others have used Tour Builder. You may just find some neat tours to share in the gallery.

"Create and Discover New Adventures on the Go" with Mosey. Find and create tours of your favorite cities, restaurants, the outdoors, and more. A "Mosey" is similar to a collection of placemarkers with your own notes and comments for Google Maps, but you do not need to be a Google aficionado to make and share one! Create a Mosey account to build your own journey including pictures and descriptions. Type in the name of any location. Mosey lists possible addresses to choose from. Add a picture from their library and a short description or comments on what to do there. Do this for each stop in your journey to create you own Mosey that includes map pins and location descriptions. Share using the url offered when finishing your Mosey. This tool is currently available to use on the web version or to "carry with you" on iOs devices. View an example (here) made in less than 10 minutes!

In the Classroom

Share some of the ready-made presentations on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Search their current presentations for those that would be useful in your class. Use Mosey to create virtual field trips to anywhere. Create Moseys for your hometown featuring interesting places to visit. Create a Mosey with state capitals, lakes and landforms, or important battlefields. Create Moseys for any mapping projects. If you are lucky enough to go on real field trips, create a Mosey telling students and chaperones what to do at each location on the trip, and have students make their own when you return! World language students can create Moseys for cultural sites -- and use their language in the comments!

Create a virtual treasure hunt using the tools and maps on this resource. Follow simple directions to add clues to find any location on the globe. When finished, save to receive a unique url for your treasure hunt. Players follow your clues to find coins at each location along the way. After finding a coin, clues provide information for the next stop. There is a small learning curve for following and creating treasure hunts. But once you figure out the first one, the activity becomes quite simple to understand. See a very short treasure hunt sample here.

In the Classroom

Add virtual treasure hunts to many classroom lessons. Share treasure hunts on your projector or interactive whiteboard, perhaps for students to do as a center. Create treasure hunts to announce field trips, locate areas of interest for social studies lessons, or point out locations in novels and other reading material. Have students create their own virtual treasure hunt for a favorite location, where they were born, or to begin a biography of a famous person or series of historic events such as the civil rights movement. In science class, have students create a treasure hunt of habitats or environmental disaster sites. Create student-made mapquests for math skill practice as students calculate distances, map scale, and trip costs using a treasure hunt.

BatchGeo creates maps with multiple location points easily and quickly from information imported from your own spreadsheets or using their spreadsheet template. Choose "validate and set options" to begin. Copy and paste location data into the box provided. When finished, save and choose a name for your map. Choose public or private sharing options to receive the unique url of your completed map.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Map any location data collected by your class using zip codes. Use data sets of various things online for mapping such as museums or libraries nearby. Research similar communities by demographics or census data and "map" them using this tool. Make an online Google forms survey (shared via twitter!) that includes zip codes and map those who respond: biology classes collecting water quality data, schools participating in a collaborative project, etc. Map anything that can be put into a spreadsheet with zip codes such as historic sites, toxic waste dumps, etc. You could even map locations where your Flat Stanley has traveled!

This open source, collaborative mapping site is known as the "Wikipedia of maps." This easily editable map is up to date as locations change (as they often do). The license just requires you to credit OpenStreetMap, and you can copy, download, and amend the maps without limitation.

In the Classroom

Use any part of this map for your school projects. Share the maps on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Copy, download, or alter maps as needed. The license requires crediting OpenStreetMap. Build completely new maps around a specific theme or concept, such as walking, hiking, bicycling, routes for those with disabilities, among others. Create projects traveling through various areas around various themes such as places to eat, sleep, or play. Students create stories about stopping in these places to share with others. If you teach geography, this one's a must. It is also helpful for showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. If you teach map skills or teach about how communities grow, be sure to share this map to show how maps can change when a new street or highway is built. If you have a new road in your area, show the difference between this map and older ones that can be found online. Challenge students to compare this map to others.

Listen to soundscapes recorded all over the world. Find a place of interest on the map, listen to the recording, and read the information about the location. Upload your own soundscapes using the site or through the iPhone/iPad app.

In the Classroom

Those who teach geography and world cultures will like this! Use this resource to get your students thinking about the sounds around them. Include it when studying sound or the human ear in science class. Connect with other subjects by envisioning smells that would be there or craft a story inspired by the sounds heard at a specific location. Play sounds for your younger students and ask what they hear. Create sound stories together -- or as a creative project --by playing a series of sounds to tell the tale! Use your imagination to add this resource to other location projects used throughout the year. World language teachers could assign students to create a sound and word story about a cultural location. Use these sounds as background and add the dialog!

Findery lets you place notes and images on a virtual map that others can see (if you make it public.) Type in a location to go anywhere in the world. Google map technology shows that location along with any notes that exist there. Add your own notes and images after registering on the site. Use the regular search bar for other searches of places such as Great Wall and countless other locations. Since the general public can add notes to locations, previewing is a good idea!

In the Classroom

Use this site anytime you discuss a world location. Search the site to find notes placed by people and images of the actual location. Have your class take pictures and upload your own notes of your school and community. Use this in world language classes to explore other countries and cultures. Going on a field trip? Search Findery to see if there are notes about the location. You may find some interesting information to have in mind before leaving! Upon your return, have students place their own images and write notes for others to view. Create a class account then ask students to find items placed on the maps. Next, have them save as favorites to use with a larger project or to be included as part of a newspaper article about their topic using the Newspaper Clipping Generator.

Search for any place in the world and view images of "what was there" in the past using a Google Maps street view. Find your location on Google Maps, then search through the list of available photographs. View the photo details or view in Google Street View (the little orange man). Photo details include date taken, title, description, and copyright information. Roll over the photo for a magnified view. In Street View, you can fade in and out through the photograph. You can upload photos, too. This tool is also available as an iPhone app.

In the Classroom

Use this tool to explore the changes in your local area or elsewhere. Compare medicine, education, nutrition, and more from each of the time periods. Create a campaign to showcase your local area today by cataloguing various neighborhoods with your classes. Write stories about life in each of the historical periods. Research headline news of those days, political figures, and major achievements. In elementary grades, show how towns and cities change over time by projecting the photos and maps as part of your Communities unit. In very early grades, introduce the very idea of history by showing "what was there" at familiar local sites. Have students write stories about what happened there "once upon a time."

This easy to use site is a large collection of maps and data sets for access by the public. Find maps, data, and charts for almost all countries. Choose from data categories that include Per Capita Income, Government Debt, Housing, Energy Consumption, Agricultural Production, and more. Select a data set to view. Choose the available countries from the drop-down. Export, download, or embed the data into your blog or site. Peruse community boards for information on statistics and apps for sharing (Facebook and Twitter) on Knoema. Upload data and create presentations and pages with the data simply and easily. Find tutorials about all you can do with Knoema here.

In the Classroom

Use in Social Studies or World Cultures to compare economic indicators of countries. Create data sets and visualizations of environmental data around the world. Use data in the writing of papers or creation of presentations on the country statistics such as GDP or exported goods. Trying to find meaningful data to include in an infographic? Knoema has it! Math teachers can use data sets for practice activities with statistics.

Use Animaps to go beyond Google's My Maps, adding animation. You can add text, multiple location stops, and images to maps. Maps that you make can be shared with anyone or kept private. Connect your Animaps to Facebook and Twitter for direct photo and map sharing. This tool's major advantage is that it adds the factor of time to the map.

In the Classroom

To use this tool, create an account and start playing with the features. There are also tutorials and showcases featured on the site to show what can be done. This would be great for creating time lines in social studies class, showing different places and teaching geography and social studies together. Foreign language students could create maps explaining culture aspects of the language or trace the origins of language. Assign students in math or family consumer sciences to be travel agents and plan vacations, including the costs of the trip.

As part of a book project, have your students show the setting of a novel they are reading, with images that annotate their impression of what the setting looks like. Have students create visual current events, especially for events that take place over time, such as the primaries and Presidential Elections.

Use data from a spreadsheet to instantly create an interactive map. Search the Gallery for some great ideas for using spreadsheets to make a map. Watch the "What is this all about" video to see how easy it is to create a data map. Click "Create your map" to upload an excel or Google Docs file to be used. Users must be able to collect data using either an Excel spreadsheet or Google Spreadsheet. Upload the file to view the graphical data. Click Share to send to others. View your data in a graphical way! Data uploaded is viewable by the public. No login is required. Be sure that information used to create the graph is not private information.

In the Classroom

Consider identifying water/electric/gas usage in various areas in your school district. Use data about car ownership to identify trends in various locations. Collect information about wildlife sightings, traffic patterns, and other interesting information to view as a graph. Have students research countless trends from around the world and create maps to share ad explain on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Be sure to ask questions about what the data implies. Why does one location differ from another? Have students hypothesize what the data means, then research information to back up their hypothesis.

Use maps from around the world as an entry point for information, statistics, and discussions. Create or view maps that communicate information; then share your maps with others. View maps made by others by clicking on the Gallery or Featured Maps. Hover over the map to view a description, reviews, and more details. Within the site, you will find tools for building and sharing maps. Click on Map to view directions for creating your own map. Find a variety of basemaps, specialty layers, applications, and tools that you can use to create an awesome map. Find helpful collaborative groups. Create web apps and mobile apps as well. Your maps can be shared by url or embedded in a wiki, blog, or web page.

If you simply wish to use maps created by others, no special skills or login are needed. Click on areas of the map to zoom in to find the content layers. Click on the little icons at the top left hand column (hover over to see description.) Click on the map legend to get a key for the icons. You can even add to already existing maps!

In the Classroom

Create a login to create a map, rate maps, or join a group. Follow the directions for creating a map.

Use existing maps to obtain information about a wide variety of topics and issues. Assign a map for students to explore and practice both map skills while accessing content information on environmental issues, economics, current events, world cultures, and more. Provide time for students to view the information and record what they see and connections they make about the material. Offer some thought-provoking questions, such as, "Which part of the world seems to have the highest gas prices? Why?" Create a mind map or use an interactive whiteboard to sketch out all of the information students have found. Use a tool such as bubbl.us (reviewed here) to create and share mind maps. Have student groups find relevant information, statistics, and resources to understand the map. Work together as a class to add information to a local map about watershed, pollution sources, or animal habitats. Allow students to add relevant layers or create their own maps when completing projects, researching issues, or learning concepts from class. Challenge student groups to build global perspective by exploring a location and learn as much about it as they can by viewing a wide variety of the maps from the Gallery. Have them generate a map information and comparison challenge for peers based on the maps available in the Gallery. In world language classes, have students gather knowledge about a country where their language is spoken and share it in oral discussions (in the new language, of course!).

Use Geolover to plan and organize trips anywhere in the world. Mark places you like. Print to create your own travel map and guide. Click on a location, find sites of interest, and click "Add to my list." Click on your lists to view in map view and use other tools. Add your own places of interest easily. As with any site that shares photos and video clips, be sure to preview what you plan to share BEFORE you share the site with your class. There is also an app version of this site for those using iPads or iTouches.

In the Classroom

Use this resource to find important points of interest in places around the world. Use it to learn more about other countries and cultures, determine distances between points of interest, or create travel guides for particular purposes such as religious, governmental, or historical interest. Create a travel guide of a country you would love to visit. Share travel guides or use as the basis of presentations to the class. Create a class bulletin board using Padlet, reviewed here, where you can make columns for the most popular destinations (for a travel guide) and students can contribute to the bulletin board. Then have students create an online book or brochure of images and captions about their travel guide using a site such as Storybird, reviewed here. Use the information at this site to have your students create conventional or multimedia projects. Challenge students make a multimedia presentation using Calameo, reviewed here, and Magazine Cover Maker, reviewed here, or give them a choice of presentation formats using Genial.ly, reviewed here.

Check Teachers First reviews for specific fun and creative tools from this expansive site. As Big Huge Labs continues to expand upon their offerings, be sure to check back to the main page of the site to find what is new. Be sure to check out the Trading Card Maker reviewed here, the CD Cover Maker reviewed here, The Big Huge Thesaurus reviewed here, and many others! Take time to play with some of these tools before sharing the site with students. Many of these tools are more suitable for play than a valuable tool for demonstrating student knowledge.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

It is helpful to have a Flickr account to organize photos. Users must be able to find and upload/provide the URL of a specific photo. This tool is so simple with very little steps for creating. Simply upload your photo, select from a few options, and then create.

Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here.

Options here are endless. Find out what students understand about a concept by creating a 6 word story. Students find a suitable picture and sum up the concept in 6 words. Students can use the Motivator tool reviewed here to create. Place their creation on a blog, wiki, or site and have students write about how their understandings of the concept have changed throughout the study of it. Create Badges for field trips and other activities. Use the Trading Card Maker reviewed here to identify what a student understands about a concept. Create trading cards of the many species that exist in the world or of places to visit, past leaders of nations, or states and other countries. Create vocabulary trading cards. Use social networking in the classroom? Create an Avatar to use on these spaces. Reading a book or viewing documentaries? Create Movie Posters to share information or to inform others about various times in History. Whatever you use this tool for, it is powerful for students to use a great image and word captions to display their knowledge.

Expedition Lit Trips is a version of Google Lit Trips (reviewed here) where students read books that depict various historical and modern expeditions and produce a "geographical book report" with Google Earth technology. Learn more about Google Earth in this TeachersFirst review. Objectives may include collecting and analyzing various historical documents in order to understand the relationships between the time and place that writers' described and their significance on today's world. Students use modern technology, (Google Earth), to learn about and map, the explorations of literary and historical figures, or authors, and even poets. There are many sample projects to look at from this Wiki page, with all the "soup to nuts" detailed directions, ideas, templates, links to tools, and supports to get you started and guide you throughout the various layers. If you are not familiar with Google Earth, there is a link provided right at the bottom of the page that enables you to download a free Google Earth Pro license for your school and watch tutorial videos to guide you through all the amazing features.

In the Classroom

Integrate technology with your study of the achievements and adventures of great nonfictional or fictional men and women to discover and navigate what it was like to live and work in a particular place and period of time, or research themes and challenges that were influenced by various locations and cultures during different historical periods. Start by projecting on your whiteboard some of the student pages to explore and inspire your class to make their own "trips" that fit your curriculum. Some of the many samples include a Google Map created to correspond to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and projects such as the one created to accompany John Krakauer's Into Thin Air. The ideas work well for both individual or groups and are perfect for teaming up with colleagues in other departments to work on as an interdisciplinary project. All the resources and "how to" information that you will need are accessible directly from the site, so you will not have to hunt for anything.

For educators looking for some great links and help with Google Earth (as well as other Google products.) Even though this site was developed for a training in-service, find some great screenshots, tutorials, and links to great Google Earth examples. Be sure to check out the navigation list on the left for tutorials of other Google products and technology hints. For more information on Google Earth, find our review here. Also, find more support at Google Earth in the Classroom.

In the Classroom

Use this resource to learn about and become acquainted with Google Earth. Google Earth is a free application download.

Find some great resources and project ideas on this technology hints site. Be sure to check the Google Earth review here for other great ideas. Take your students around the world using the fabulous tool. Create narrated tours for students (or have students create their own). The possibilities are immense with Google Earth.

Use this easy site to find any address on satellite view. Show My Street uses Google Street View. Type in an address. As you type, street views that begin to match the address will appear. As you continue to type, the street views continue to change. (This is actually a really great way to see other places.) Zoom in on your address using the same tools found in Google Maps. Share the location by clicking on the Twitter, Facebook, or link icons.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Have students choose any place, then post the link to it on a blog, wiki, or website, and write a description of it. Describe what they would see out of their window, create a story about what they hear or see, or describe their family and what's inside of the house. Research the history of the area to determine how it may have been different in the past. Of course you will went to avoid posting personal information on the web, but students could write fictional stories or keep personal information out of their writings. Describe the wildlife (plant or animal) that exists in their area. Describe the community of people in the area or an important neighbor and why they are important. Create a persuasive essay why their house (or school) is the best, friendliest, etc. in the area. Use tools to determine the distance between houses or to local historical places, places of interest, etc. Use the image as a powerful tool for writing.

Use MapCrunch to go to places in the world without ever leaving the classroom. Explore the world's geography and cultures easily. View detailed "Google Street View" snapshots of towns, cities, and areas all over the globe. Randomly tour spots on the earth or choose a tour by continent. Use the navigation buttons to zoom in or out or shift the MapCrunch window to face a different direction. Click on the checkbox to use the slideshow feature. Share by using a link, through Facebook, or email.

In the Classroom

Assign students various countries, regions, or continents to make comparisons. Identify the biological, geographical, cultural, and social issues that exist in the world, based on what the pictures show and what their research uncovers. Bring a greater understanding to current economic and environmental issues in many countries. World language (or World Cultures) classes can help students understand the cultures of the countries where the language is spoken. Compare specific attributes of two countries using an online Venn Diagram, such as the one reviewed here. Another idea: have cooperative learning groups use this resource to create online books about the country of their tour using a resource such as Bookemon,

Create a map from addresses collected in a Google spreadsheet. Create an account using your email or through a Twitter or Facebook account. Connect with your Google account or use the friendly step by step help to create one on this site. Collect addresses using a Google Form. Create a map by choosing one of your spreadsheets where data has been collected. Instantly map these addresses using the Map a List tool. Make your maps public or private and share with others by downloading the KML file for opening in Google Earth. Use the tutorials at the bottom right for help with Map A List.

In the Classroom

Users must be familiar with using a Google form for collecting data and finding the spreadsheet in their list of documents. Users must have a Google account and an email address to register for Map A List. Create a class account for students to use. Publish your Google form on a blog, site, or wiki to collect entries to be used to make a map.

Use a Google form to collect addresses of various locations such as historic places students know, my most memorable vacation, where I live, or where my grandparents were born. Use to teach some basic map skills to younger students. Map locations of government services for a civics class, local locations of healthy activities or farmers markets in a health class, locations where students can find certain trees, insects, or other wildlife to name a few. Map the locations of anything collected in a Google Spreadsheet. Be sure that information collected is in address format so it can be mapped by this amazing tool.